Author's Note: I recently deleted a Bleach fanfic I wrote YEARS ago because I didn't really like it. Plus, it was only one chapter seeing as I lost interest in it long ago. But I've recently rewatched the Bleach anime from Rukia's rescue (mainly to see Ichigo vs. Kenpachi) to the end of the Winter War, and it inspired me to try out another fanfic idea. I've been reading a shitload of isekai manga (most be the new fab! Still love it!), so I figured I should try it out! I hope that whoever reads this story enjoys it, because I'm having a blast writing it!

Chapter 1: So You've Chosen Death with Strawberries on the Side

"This shit blows," Katie huffs as she walks out of a high rise office building.

Katie ripped her hair out of the tight ponytail she'd forced herself to wear for the interview she'd just left. Dark brown waves blowing in the breeze as she walked down the busy city street in search of a well deserved lunch and possibly a stiff drink.

She's been job hunting for months now, and can't seem to catch a break. Ever since the incident her credibility had been in question, but it hasn't stopped her from doing her best and applying for as many writing jobs as she could get her hands on. She didn't want to work a job in some random clothing store or convenience store while looking for work, but between student loan payments, rent, credit card bills, and multiple streaming service, her funds were running dangerously low.

Katie removed her gray pinstripe blazer allowing the sun's rays to be absorbed into her brown skin. She then slung her purse back over her shoulder. She furrowed her brows as her frown deepened.

"These heels are killing me. It's hot as hell, and I'm just so annoyed," she thought as she entered a bar.

Katie slammed her purse on the bar causing the bartender to almost jump out of his skin.

"A double shot of your best tequila," she laughed and paused for a sec, "actually, make that like three doubles."

Katie stumbled up to her apartment a few hours later. The tequila effectively loosened her up from the stress she'd been bottling up and now she just wanted to sleep for days. She fished her keys out of her purse unlocking the door. Once inside she flipped on the lights to her two bedroom studio apartment. She dropped her keys and wallet on the marble kitchen counter while she kicked her heels off and to the side. Katie padded over to the fridge and snatched out the orange juice not even bothering to grab a glass as she downed it. She walked to her room to flop on her comfy bed but decided to change into a sleepshirt and to sober up just a little bit more before going to sleep.

She striped down and grabbed her favorite night shirt that had "I need my beauty sleep" written across it. Katie walked over to her body mirror and sighed. All the stress was causing her already permanent dark circle just a shade darker. She noticed a couple of small whiteheads near her chin. As she grabbed her brush she sighed deeply as she ran it through a few snags. A small smile graced her face as she watched her thick, layered waves stop just below her bra strap. She was actually proud that she managed to get her hair to look like it had been done professionally for the interview she had earlier, but it was a pain detangling her tight curls. And don't even get her started on how long it took to blowdry and straighten... black hair was always an adventure.

"What am I in the mood to watch," she hummed to herself as she skipped into her home office/woman cave.

As flicked on the light and breathed in the smell of books, pencil shavings, and cinnamon. The room was pretty big, three large bookshelves side-by-side filled with countless manga series from some of the best actions like Dragon Ball/Dragon Ball Z, dark, gritty series such as Berserk and Hellsing, the sweetest shogo Kamisama Kiss and Ouran, and the epic shonens Yu Yu Hakusho, Naruto, Shaman King etc. But it wasn't just manga she had because Karie was just an avid reader and had classics, a shitload of YA, and mythology books. On the opposite side resided her desk and computer, her large dry erase board positioned over it. Adjacent to the desk was her art supplies scattered about, some unfinished projects here and there. Anime wall scroll hanging on all the walls, and a shelf full of funko pop and other figurines. She flopped into her chair swirling a couple times.

She faced her bookshelf, "What haven't I seen in awhile? Something with some good fights."

Katie skipped over to her bookshelf with her hands tucked behind her head. She ran her fingers along the spines of her many books.

"Hmm, not Tokyo Ghoul...not really feeling Fairy Tail right now. Oh, haven't seen Code:Breaker in a while…," she muttered thoughtfully.

Her fingers stopped at Bleach.

She grinned, "Oh it's definitely been a while since I've seen Ichigo getting his ass whooped. Alright, it's decided Bleach for the night!"

Katie flopped back into her chair, and started up her Mac monitor going to Hulu. She didn't really want to start from the very beginning, so she started at the Ichigo vs. Kenpachi fight. Kenpachi was one of her favorite captains, but then again she just had a thing for battle-crazed characters in any anime. They were always for excitable to watch, and there were so many characters like that in this series. Katie grinned as the oranged haired teen and the crazed, bell wearing man powered up their final attacks. After the episode was done she skipped to the actual rescue of Rukia, dramatics and all. She rested her chin on her as Byakuya and Ichigo started having their "who has the biggest dick" contest aka exchanging blows via Bankai. Byakuya was a favorite of hers too. Okay, she had like a dozen favorites in the series. Don't judge!

After watching the end of the Aizen's betrayal, she skipped over the Bount Arc completely landing on Grimmjow's first arrival. Okay, so if there was a stable ranking in Katie's mind on her favorite character within the series, he would be number 1. Not because he's hot. Not because of his brutal fighting style. And not even for his personality (though they do play a huge role in the ranking). He would be number one because of the way Ichigo got his ass handed to him by the blue haired arrancar. Just think about it for a sec. Ichigo was hot shit, and always managed to turn a battle around, you know that protagonist halo is really a thing, but Grimmjow destroyed him and damaged his pride. Something, in Katie's opinion, needed to happen to push him further as a character, but damn was it stunning to watch the first time around as a thirteen year old.

Katie's eyes began to get tired as she yawned into her fist. She shut down her computer and turned off the light as she exited. She quickly took out her contacts and flopped into her bed. Hugging one of her many pillows she let out a long sigh. She turned over with the pillow tight to her chest.

"Being an adult is such trash…I miss the days of no real responsibilities other than getting good grades. If I were a genius or a mad scientist I would've built an interdimensional watch or something by now," she grumbled as she kicked her cover to one side of the bed, "then I'd hope from my favorite anime series whenever I needed to escape from this shitty reality…"

She rolled to her right side to get comfortable and mumbled, "As if that'll ever happen."

Katie finally drifted off to sleep.

"It's hot...why is it so hot," she kicked her blanket off of her onto the floor.

She groaned grabbing her phone, squinting as the brightness assaulted her eyes as 10:47 am flashed back to her. It was Sunday, her "lazy day". Usually she would still be sleeping the day away, but between the heat in the room and her sweat, she was just too uncomfortable to stay in bed. Katie slowly placed her feet on the floor. She reached for her glasses that sat on the nightstand on the right to her, pushing the frames onto her face. Once she managed to get on her feet she dragged herself to the bathroom. Something felt different. She couldn't process everything, but something was just off. Sleep still clouding her mind, she didn't notice some of the minor changes to her environment.

"Am I catching a summer cold or something," she grumbled as she scratched her head, "my head feels kinda...heavy?"

Stumbling into the bathroom she flicked on the lights. Blinking dark circles from her vision until she could stare at her reflection in the mirror. She froze. Then suddenly rushed to the mirror.

"What. The. Actual. Fuck," she whispered as she gripped the sides of the sink so tight her knuckles started to quiver from the strain.

She looked younger! A spitting image from when she was in highschool only her dark circles were non-existent, her brown skin almost glowing and baby smooth, her hair grew quite a few inches touching her lower back (explaining the sudden heaviness), and her brown eyes seemed just a little brighter. She pulled at her nightshirt examining the rest of her body. Any childhood scars or moles that were scattered all across her body were unchanged. Even the ones she gained in adulthood. Her chest slightly fuller and her stomach spotting some definition that she'd lost as she got older from stopping her workouts. Her piercings and earrings were still the same. Everything was relatively the same, just youthful.

She ran back into her room and noticed some changes. For one it was slightly smaller and the furniture was different. For one she her dresser and television were missing, replaced by a small table and cushions. Her wall wasn't covered by the beautiful paintings she'd gotten for her birthday last year, and instead was covered by photographs. She stepped closer to the photographs of her and two people that looked similar to her parents but with some variations. They looked like pictures of her over the years. Seemed like vacations, birthdays, outings, off guard photos of her or her mom, dance recitals, and martial arts classes? But then she noticed a person was missing in these pictures.

She frowned, "Why aren't there any pictures of Quinn? Why are there so many pictures of my parents together?"

Quinn was Katie's sister who was six years older than herself, and her parents had been divorced since she was about two years old, so Katie didn't understand why there were so many family pictures of them all together. She grabbed snatched her phone off the bed and went straight to her gallery.

"I should have pictures of Quinn in here," she frowned as she scrolled through the photos.

Her sister and her were very close, so she didn't understand why she was missing in any pictures on the wall. There were nothing of Quinn just pictures of landscapes, flowers, and some other overly girly shit. Katie felt like she should have been panicking, but really she was just confused.

She turned to her closet and sorted through the hanging clothes. Everything looked like stuff she'd bought not too long ago. A school uniform caught her eye. She picked it up and held it at arm's length. It had a long sleeved gray blazer with red lining, a red bow tie with a gold clip in the middle, and a gray skirt.

Eyebrows furrowed together, "This looks creepily familiar...it sort of looks like Orihime's uniform in...Bleach," something finally clicked, "Holy shit!"

She whipped her head around looking for her purse. She remembered she'd left it in her kitchen. She ran out of her room down the hall to the kitchen. Her purse was still on the counter exactly where she left it. She rummaged around until she felt her wallet. She snatched it out and stared at the student id within. It had her smiling face next to the words Karakura High, but the name was different.

She was in the Bleach Universe, but she wasn't Katie Nightwood. She was now Shigeru Kuroi and she was sixteen again.

A few hours had passed as Katie—no―Shigeru started to explore her apartment for anything to explain her life in this universe after a much needed shower of course.

Shigeru now sat in the middle of her living room, hair pulled into a high ponytail dressed in some black leggings and a gray muscle shirt. She was surrounded by paperwork, awards, photo albums, and certificates. After some digging she had an idea of what her life was like the Bleach-verse, as she now calls it. For one, her sister didn't exist in this world, and two, her parents died a year ago. She was apparently a black belt in several martial arts, and currently in MMA fighting classes (probably to vent her emotions from her parent's death). She was also a dancer focusing mainly on hip-hop, ballet, and contemporary, something she never even dreamed of doing in her original universe.

She was financially supported by one of her aunts, who Shigeru didn't want to bother too much, so one day she suddenly decided to move to the next town over with her aunt's permission of course explaining why she was in Karakura Town. Only in anime, right? She couldn't quite remember what led to the sudden decision to up and leave her aunt's place, but she got the feeling that whatever the reason it wasn't good.

If she concentrated hard enough she could get flashes of memories and feelings from this universe. For some reason unlike most isekai manga that she read, Shigeru's memories from her original universe were dominant, and she could only gauge what this younger version of herself felt or remembered but nothing was concrete. But she could tell that her aunt was an extremely nice woman who cared for her deeply, and based on her call log she checked on her often.

"All of this is so unreal...but it is happening...just wow," she muttered as she flipped through transfer papers for Karakura High.

She was supposed to be starting tomorrow, and she was not thrilled about being a high schooler again. She'd done her time in that particular prison system and was supposed to be a free woman, but from the look of her transcript and her knowledge from prior experiences she knew she'd be fine. She picked up one of the photo albums and flipping through the pages. She ran her hand across the picture of her parent's wedding.

"This is so surreal. Ma and Daddy are alive and healthy back at home...I can't even imagine them being gone this early in my life," she thought as she smirked at a picture and her and her father with cake frosting all over their faces as they cheesed into the camera.

Her stomach growled and she hopped up, "Well time for food!"

She skipped over to her fridge. Her smile faltered as she looked in the almost empty fridge. She guessed she didn't go grocery shopping that week. Shigeru grabbed her purse, wallet, and keys.

"Time to explore Karakura Town," she mused happily.

Shigeru managed to navigate the town through muscle memory and gauging through her memories. She found the grocery store easily. She checked her banking account quickly as she grabbed a cart. She made more than enough to do shopping for a month or two, but since she'd have to walk all the food back by herself she opted to get enough for a couple weeks.

She looked at the label of some snacks and she mused, "Well I did just get to this town a couple weeks ago, so I guess it makes sense not to have food in the fridge. Most have been ordering out."

She tossed some boxes of cookies and bags of chips into the cart as she headed for the fruits and vegetables. She grabbed a couple of things there before heading for meat. After about forty to forty-five more mins, Shigeru was satisfied with the amount of food and snacks she'd gotten. She headed toward the check out only to bump into a small girl with light blonde hair, a red strawberry clip in her hair, and a pink dress. Shigeru managed to grab her before she fell.

She grinned, "I'm sorry about that! Are you okay?"

The girl beamed back at her, "I'm fine! I was in a rush and wasn't paying attention. Thank you for helping me."

Shigeru blinked as she realized who the young girl was. It was Yuzu Kurosaki. She began to scream internally.

"Whoa, I didn't think I'd run into any of the characters yet! I must live in the same neighborhood as Ichigo's family. That's both awesome and terrifying," Shigeru gave Yuzu a toothy grin.

"Oh, don't mention it. I practically ran you over just now. We both should be careful," she laughed as they both walked to the register.

Yuzu had less than her, so she left the young girl in front of her in line. She was just as bubbly in person as in the show. Shigeru thought that the girl was just too adorable.

"Just how did this angel get stuck with grumpy Ichigo and Karin," she giggled.

They chatted a bit as they stood in line about how Shigeru was new to town and was looking forward to living in Karakura. Yuzu tried to extend an offer to meet her family over dinner, but was declined. Shigeru wasn't up to meeting Ichigo until she at least knew where in the story she was currently in. Plus, she'll probably run into the orange hellraiser at school tomorrow. She just told Yuzu "maybe next time" much the girl displeasement. Yuzu pouted but agreed nonetheless. The two part ways going in opposite directions at the entrance.

Yuzu waved, "It was great meeting you, Shigeru! Remember you just have to have dinner with my family next time."

"You got it, little one," Shigeru grinned as she waved her good-bye.

Just steps away from her apartment building Shigeru felt a strange presence. It was like a light pressure waying down on her. Her eyes widened as she felt a sense of despair and sadness. A soul piercing howl echoed throughout the town.

"A Hollow," she gasped.

She gripped her bags and ran up to her apartment. She dropped her bags on her counter and ran to her room. She rummaged through her nightstand and found what she was looking for, a red glove with a skull in blue flames. She slipped it on her hand before slamming it against her chest. Shigeru's physical body fell forward onto her bed, but her spiritual body stayed upright.

Now dressed in a black, sleeveless shihakusho with a purple obi tied around her waist. Her hair once again down, flowing to her lower back. Her hands and arms covered by fingerless gloves that extended to her elbows. A wakizashi place on either of her hips. Her dual bladed zanpakuto! Both with contrasting hilt wrappings, one black and the other white. Both with a gold cloud shaped guard and purple sheaths.

The howling grew louder.

"That thing is close by," she huffed as she ran to jump out her window flying in the direction of the constant howling.

She remembered! She remembered the reason she was so adamant about getting away from her aunt. It was to protect her! She went through the same damn thing Ichigo went through in the pilot! Shigeru had unusually high spiritual pressure, and because of it she and her aunt were attacked by some Hollow's on their way home from dinner one night. The shinigami of the area was mortally wounded defending them, but offered Shigeru the opportunity to finish the job for him. Not only granting her his shinigami abilities, but the power she needed to protect herself and her aunt. After Shigeru finished off the rest of the hollows, the shinigami handed her the glove and wished her the best before dying. The smile on his dying face was so serene as he vanished from existence. She never even got his name…

Shigeru was just like Ichigo: a substitute shinigami!

She drew her swords from their sheaths as the Hollow became visible in the middle of the park near the apartment complex. The sword with the white hilt was completely black, so black that light seemed to get absorbed by it, with a white dragon carved into the blade itself. The sword with the black hilt was completely white, as white as fresh, undisturbed snow, with a black tiger carved into the blade. She positioned her body stealthily above the beast, lowering her spiritual pressure to an undetectable state, ready to strike the mask of the giant lizard-like monster. She quickly nose-drived, swiftly imbedding her blades into it's skull. It froze before disintegrating.

"Is...is it gone now," a small quiet voice called from behind Shigeru.

She whipped around to see a small boy no older than ten. He had wavy, short black hair, a red shirt, and torn blue jeans. His soul chain had quite a few links, meaning the boy must have recently passed. He looked a little shaken up as tears gathered in his eyes.

Shigeru sighed before giving the boy a warm, kind smile, "Yeah, I took care of 'em. He won't be back. Ever."

The boy wiped his eyes and ran into Shigeru, wrapping his small arms around her waist trying to hold back his sobs, "Thank you! I was so scared!"

She patted the boy on his head and back gently. She dropped to a knee, placed her sword on the ground, to be eye level with the boy, "What's your name, lil' buddy?"

"Sota," he sniffed.

"Okay, Sota. You can't stay here. If you do then more monsters like the one before will come after you," Shigeru calmly said as she gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

He frowned as tears started to gather in his eyes again, "But where should I go? I don't know where Mommy and Daddy went. They don't live in our apartment anymore."

She wiped the tears from his eyes, "I can send you to a place like heaven. It's called the Soul Society. There you'll be happy and safe from the monsters."

"Really?"

She smiled and nodded, "Yep, and one day you'll see your mommy and daddy again, but right now you'll have to go alone. Don't worry you'll make plenty of friends before you know it!"

Sota sniffed and nodded his head, "Okay. I'll go there."

"You're a brave little boy, Sota," Shigeru smiled placing a kiss on his forehead.

She grabbed her white blade gently stamping the hilt to his forehead performing konsho. She stood up as Sota faded away turning into a butterfly. She watched on sadly as it fluttered into the sky.

"Poor kid," she frowned.

She turned to walk away, but froze when she heard a familiar voice in the distance. Her eyes widened as she jumped high into the thick branches of one of the trees. She peeked down from her hiding space to see an orange haired teen in a black shihakusho like herself, and a petite black haired girl.

She frowned, "Took those two long enough."

"What the hell, Rukia? Are you sure that damned thing isn't broken," Ichigo yelled at the girl who pressed the buttons on her phone.

Rukia snapped the phone shut, "Oh, shut up! It seems like someone handled the hollow before we could."

"What?! So there's like another shinigami around her or something," Ichigo asked as he placed his hands over his chest.

Shigeru smirked, "Something like that…"

Rukia placed her chin in her hand deep in thought. The girl's phone began to beep again.

She turned to the teen, "We'll figure that out later! Another hollow has appeared, so let's take care of it."

She took off running in the direction of the newly appeared hollow. Ichigo stayed back for a second. He looked around and then up to the trees. Shigeru backed up further into the shadows when it looked like they locked eyes.

"Fuck!"

"Ichigo! Get a move on! This hollow isn't going to kill itself," Rukia hollered from a distance.

He sighed before running in her direction, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Shigeru placed a hand to her chest and let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding, "That was a close one…"

The next day

Shigeru pulled at the uniform skirt for the fifth time that morning. Her shapely legs made the skirt shorter than it really was, and it annoyed her greatly. She was a firm believer that "thick thighs save lives", but this was slightly uncomfortable.

"Luckily, I always wear shorts under skirts and dresses," she mused.

After dealing with the hollow last night, she went home to put away her groceries. She finished unpacking officially, and cleaned up her mess from her little investigation. She knew Ichigo and Rukia would be able to handle any hollow that appeared for the rest of the night, so she decided to keep a low profile. As she prepared dinner she thought about the order of events for this universe seeing as Ichigo already took Rukia's abilities. She could be anywhere in the beginning of the series before Ichigo and Uryuu had that hollow hunting contest... she didn't have a choice but to wait until the next day to pinpoint the exact moment in the timeline she was in.

She stood outside the gateway for the school, and she had butterflies in her stomach for some reason. Maybe it's because she's never been a new student before (she went to a K-12 Charter School, so she basically grew up with the same people from kindergarten up until 12th grade). Students flooded into the building.

Shigeru took a deep breath, "Here we go! The start of an awesome emotional roller coaster!"

She headed to the office to grab her schedule. She blinked at the classroom assignment: 1-3.

"Well, well, well, the universe is obviously pushing me to interact with the main gang," she cackled inside.

Ms. Misato Ochi patted Shigeru on the shoulder grabbing her attention, "Are you the new student for Class 1-3?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'm Shigeru Kuroi," she smiles before bowing her head slightly.

Ochi-sensei smirked as she placed her clipboard on her shoulder, "Shigeru, huh? I thought I was getting a boy."

"Yes, yes, I get that a lot! My father was bent on having a boy, but he got me. Mom, let him name me," she chuckled.

"I see, I see! Well come with me. I'm your new homeroom teacher. I'm Ochi-sensei," Ochi-sensei beamed.

She followed the woman to the classroom. Shigeru was not thrilled about the stairs. They were her old nemesis. Maybe it's because her old school had the most evil stairs, even her department building at her college tried to kill her multiple times. Once they were at the entrance, Ochi-sensei told her to wait in the hall until she called for her.

She giggled as she heard the overly excited voice of Keigo declaring he hoped the new transfer was a hot girl.

"Come on in," Ochi-sensei's muffled voice called.

Shigeru slid open the door and stepped into the classroom with all the grace she could muster. She faced the stunned class and gave them a toothy grin.

"Hi, I'm Shigeru Kuroi. I'm a black belt in multiple forms of martial arts, and a trained dancer. I look forward to the rest of the year with everyone," her grin widened as she flicked her hair over her shoulder and took in the wowed looks from the class.

She locked eyes with a stunned Ichigo for a few seconds before looking around the class. Looking at a starstruck Keigo, smirking Mizuiro, a grinning Tatsuki, a happy Orihime, an unexpressive Chad, an uninterested Uryuu, but no Rukia yet...

Ochi-sensei smiled and turned to the class, "Alright settle down everyone. Now I want you guys to help Shigeru to get settled in. You can sit in the empty seat next to Tatsuki! Tatsuki, raise your hand!"

"I'm right here," the black haired girl grinned kindly at Shigeru.

She made her way toward the seat and nodded at Tatsuki. Shigeru wouldn't mind if they became friends. She always felt like Tatsuki deserved a lot more spotlight than she was given. Tatsuki was an awesome character that kept her friends in line. She was also a powerful fighter by human standards.

"So, you're a black belt, huh," Tatsuki asked happily.

Shigeru grinned, "Sure am! How about you, Tatsuki?"

"You betcha, I've been in karate since I was a kid," she pointed at Ichigo, "I was in the same classes as the orange hair menace over there."

"Hey! I heard that Tatsuki," Ichigo yelled as he slammed his hand on his desk, "I'm not a menace!"

Shigeru chuckled at his reaction, "Aw, he's almost cute… I can't wait to fuck with him. It's going to be a riot."

She looked over to him as he was still brooding. He locked eyes with her and blushed slightly before facing the window next to him.

"This'll be fun," she sighed facing the front board.

Third period rolled around. A free period. Something Shigeru wasn't used to. She was used to lunch being the only real free period in the school day. Many of her classmates surrounded her, asking her questions about herself. She answered them as kindly as she could, finding all the attention to be fun. Everyone in the class was pretty nice and chill. Keigo bounced, literally bounced, over to her. She blinked as he grabbed her hands.

"Shigeru, my love, your beauty knows no bounds! Please be my girlfri-," he was cut off by Tatsuki and Ichigo kicking him straight out the back door.

"Get lost creep," they shouted in unison.

Shigeru couldn't hold back her laughter. It was basically music to Keigo's ears as he laid twitching on the ground.

Ichigo faced her as he placed a hand on the back of his neck, "Sorry about that idiot. He's a complete pervert," he shoved his hand toward her, "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."

She took his hand giving it a firm shake, "I've heard! You're pretty popular, Ichigo."

"Ha, I wouldn't know about that," he scratched his cheek.

She pretended to have a shocked expression for a sec, "Do you by chance have a little sister named Yuzu?"

"Yeah, how'd you know that," he practically got in her personal space.

She chuckled, "I met her while grocery shopping. I almost ran her over with my cart. She invited me over for dinner since I'm new to town and live alone."

Ichigo ran an exasperated hand down his face, "I've told her to stop doing that!"

"I thought it was sweet. I didn't mind. I gave her a rain check though, so who knows you might have me over sooner or later," she smirked.

He laughed nervously, but Keigo tackled him in a blind fury as he yelled, "No fair, Ichigo! How is it you get all the cute girls!"

"Get off me you idiot," Ichigo yelled as he tried to swing the girl-crazed maniac off of him.

Tatsuki shook her head as Shigeru continued to laugh.

"Please, don't encourage him, Shigeru," the black haired teen sighed.

Chad calmly walked over, plucking Keigo off of Ichigo's back. In his deep voice he calmly declared, "Enough, Keigo. You're bothering the girls."

He walked back to the windows with Keigo at arms length where Mizuiro just frowned at his antics.

"Dude, she's so not interested," Mizuiro sighed as he texted on his phone.

That's when Rukia popped up in the class.

"Good morning everyone," she beamed in an over cheery voice.

Rukia glanced over to Shigeru and tilted her head, "Hello there! Who might you be?"

"I'm Shigeru Kuroi. I just transferred here today. Nice to meet you," she reached her hand out for a handshake.

The shorter girl took her hand with a firm grip, "Rukia Kuchiki. Can I borrow Ichigo for a sec?"

"Oh, he's all yours," Shigeru grinned with a playful gleam in her eyes, "so this is when Kon appears, huh."

Ichigo scowled at the short girl, "What is it? Why can't we just talk her-"

Rukia falcon punched him in the stomach. He collapsed on the ground.

"Oh my, Ichigo! Are you alright? I'll help you to the nurse," she yelled in mock concern as she dragged out the classroom.

"Is this class always this exciting," Shigeru laughed.

Orihime smiled, "Yes it is!"

The next teacher came in requesting everyone to take their seats. She quickly glanced out the window to see Ichigo and Rukia running off to fight some hollows.

She hummed to herself, a small grin on her face, "Next period will be entertaining."

As the bell rang everyone started to scatter for lunch.

"Yay! It's lunch time," Orihime yelled happily.

Tatsuki was unamused, "Not this again! It's only lunch, Orihime."

"What do you mean, Tatsuki?! All normal high school girls come to school for lunch," Orihime said as she did some weird dance.

Shigeru just couldn't hold back her laughter today, "These kids have way too much energy."

Orihime invited her to eat lunch with the rest of the girls. She accepted, but as Chizuru and Tatsuki started to argue over Chizuru's unhealthy obsession with Orihime, she pulled out her lunch from her bag. Just then everyone started to cause a commotion.

Ichigo, or rather, Kon jumped through the window.

"Is this class 1-3," he asked.

Everyone murmured in a panic, questioning how Ichigo managed to jump up to the third floor. Kon looked around the classroom, his eyes landed on Orihime, Tatsuki, and herself. She already knew that he zeroed in on Orihime's humungous boobs. He jumped over to the desk in front of Orihime and he grabbed her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, pretty lady. Would you mind telling me your name," he asked as he kissed her on the back of her hand.

Chizuru and Tatsuki lost their shit, but while Chizuru was being restrained Tatsuki had free reign.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Ichigo," she yelled putting him in a headlock.

He leaned his head all the way back glazing at the confused girl, "Hm, you're kinda cute too now that I look at you."

He leaned up to kiss her on the cheek.

3

2

1

Tatsuki lost her shit!

Shigeru couldn't stop laughing as desks went flying around the room. She had to hug her sides because they were starting to ache. A desk came flying her way, but she kicked it out the way. Tatsuki was a demon on a rampage.

"DIE," she threw yet another desk at Kon.

Kon dodged it and sighed, "All I did was kiss you on the cheek. It's not like you're in grade-school anymore. Chill out!"

"I'll kill you, Ichigo," she bellowed.

Kon dodged yet another desk before noticing Shigeru who was the only one laughing. He bounced over to her, and pulled her close by wrapping his arm around her waist. He cupped her chin and titled her face toward his.

His smirk grew as he looked over her face and ogled her body, "Hey, you're a beauty too. Will you try to hit me like the other one?"

Flustered at how close he was, "What are you-"

She was cut off as Kon quickly placed his― wait Ichigo's―lips against her own. Everyone froze. Tatsuki dropped the desk she was preparing to launch, Orihime squealed covering her blushing face, Chizuru covered Orihime's eyes, Keigo passed out, Uryuu turned away modestly, Chad's eyes widened, and Mizuiro stopped his insistent texting.

Shigure's eyes widened and flushed spread across her face, "What? Why?! Ichigo, no, Kon! Kissing?!"

"Stop right there," Rukia called out.

Ichigo jumped through the window and his eyes almost bulged out of his face, "What the hell are you doing?!"

Kon finally released Shigure and jumped out of Ichigo's reach and they started their little scuffle. Shigure's brain was currently rebooting.

5%

18%

64%

100%

Something in her mind snapped.

"I'll destroy you, Kon! You little perv," she hissed as a fiery aura covered her like it had Tatsuki moments earlier.

While Kon was busy kicking Ichigo across the room, she in turn kicked the mod-soul clear out of the open window. He landed on his feet unfortunately, and winked up at Shigure before dashing off. She grabbed her glove from her pocket as a tick mark appeared on her head.

Rukia gasped as she looked at the glove, "That's…!"

"Chad, carry me to the infirmary," she slammed her gloved hand against her chest.

An angry, shihakusho wearing Shigeru emerged from her body as the tall Mexican teen caught her falling form in a panic. She grabbed a stunned Ichigo by the back of his own shihakusho, "Let's go get your damn body back from that little pervert!"

Shigeru dragged him with her as she jumped from the window. She turned and yelled, "Move your ass, Rukia!"

As she flew in the air trying to pinpoint the idiot mod-soul, Ichigo struggled against the girls strong hold. He mentally questioned why the hell she was so strong.

"Whoa, whoa, wait! Slow down a minute! Shigeru, are you a shinigami," he asked frantically.

She frowned, "No, I'm like you Ichigo."

"Like me?"

"A spiritually sensitive human that gained a shinigami's power. A substitute shinigami," she shot him a toothy grin.

His eyes widened and he stuttered, "But how?!"

"Same as you, but now isn't the time! We need to find that soul candy that's running rampant in your body. I promise I'll explain as much as I can about myself later," she smirked as she came to a stop leaving them suspended in air, "Deal?"

He took a moment to think before sighing, "Okay, deal!"

"Hey, you two! Get down here," Rukia yelled from the ground.

After trying and failing to find Kon, the group settled in an abandoned warehouse. Ichigo was trying to catch his breath, as Shigeru squatted down to rest. Rukia was thinking about what the soul candy pill really was.

"We need to find me...I mean him… I mean that guy! What even is he?! He's ruining my image and he k-k-ki-," Ichigo was freaking out.

Rukia sighed bluntly, "Kissed your classmates."

"Don't say it! It's embarrassing," Ichigo complained.

Shigeru huffed as she crossed her arms, "Hey! I'm the victim here!"

"Honestly, I don't see the big deal. It's just a mere greeting," Rukia shrugged her shoulders.

Ichigo squatted down next to Shigeru, "How am I supposed to show my face at school tomorrow?!"

"Oh, man up! I'm sure I'm going to get the worse of it," Shigeru sighed before taking a breath and in a high pitch voice said, "Oh my, Shigeru! Are you and Ichigo dating? Is he a good kisser? Oh my god! You two will be so perfect together!"

Ichigo flushed and stuttered, "I...I'm… it was! He did-"

"Shhhh," she placed a finger to his lips, "You aren't my type, and I've been kissed plenty times before, so chill."

He finally managed to calm down, nodding hesitantly. He gulped before facing Rukia suddenly serious.

"What exactly was that thing, Rukia?"

Rukia crossed her arms over her chest, "My guess is that it was a Mod-Soul"

"Or commonly referred to as Kaizo Konpaku," Shigeru supplied grinning.

The smaller girl blinked down at the brown skinned teen and slowly agreed, "How do you know these things, Shigeru?"

Shigeru stood to her full height while stretching her neck. After hearing a satisfying pop and smiled at Rukia, "That can wait until after we stop the little menace."

"But―"

"Drop it, Rukia. Aren't we running out of time?"

Rukia went into the details of "Project Spearhead". She explained the purpose of the Mod-Soul's and their destruction. Noting the one that was currently running rampant in Ichigo's body must have gotten mixed up with some other products which was how it survived.

"So you guys created him, but the Soul Society will kill him? For convenience," Ichigo asked in disbelief.

Rukia coldly replied, "That's how it must be."

"Are you really satisfied with that though? He's just doing what you people made him for," Shigeru frowned crossing her arms around her chest.

The black haired shinigami turned away from the two, " That...is irrelevant. They must be destroyed. That is the rule of the Soul Society."

"I get that but-"

"Remember, these rules are to protect human souls like the both of you," she faced the two eyes gleaming with cold determination.

Shigeru bit down on the inside of her cheek, "But...the rules of Soul Society do just as much harm than good."

She and Ichigo shared a look before facing Rukia again.

She was already moving out of the warehouse, "Come on! You want your body back, right?"

As they ran through the city, Shigeru was wondering if she should pretend to sense Kon's presence and point them in the direction of Yuzu and Karin's school. She still wasn't sure about how much she could do in the Bleach-verse without completely altering the timeline. From what she could tell so far this universe wasn't regretting her existence, in fact, it seemed to be making sure that she was actively involved with the plot. Shigeru wasn't sure if it was going by the manga, anime, or a combination of both. That won't be answered until after the group rescues Rukia from her execution.

"That's if I'm even still involved by then," she frowned.

A part of her hoped it was heavily following the manga, because she skipped over every single filler arc, except for the Zanpakuto arc, and even then she didn't really watch that completely.

Rukia's phone began beeping, "A hollow is in that direction."

Ichigo flinched as he realized what was in that direction. He sped off with Shigeru close by his side.

"Hey! Wait for me," Rukia complained.

The two teens sped over to the girl's school. A huge centipede like hollow came into view. It was trying to attack Kon on the school roof. Shigeru could see the blood on the shoulder of Ichigo's body. Ichigo jumped ahead launching up toward the rooftop. He sliced the tentacle ready to impale his body.

"You...you saved me," Kon whispered.

Ichigo grabbed Kon by the front of his shirt and shouted, "You're injured! Just whose body do you think this is?!"

Shigeru stabbed the hollow with her black blade, "If you're going to get hurt by trash then don't jump in to try to stop it, idiot!"

"Ow! That hurts," the hollow bellowed.

Kon stared at her, "Beauty, you came to help me too?"

She glared at the Mod-Soul and huffed, "Yes, but I'm still a little annoyed."

"Haha, sorry 'bout that…"

"You know you aren't!"

"You're right," he smiled.

She grabbed him by the collar, "You have no shame!"

"But seriously if I didn't fight those kids...they would have been killed," Kon said grimly as he gently pried her fingers from his collar.

The hollow that had grown tired of being ignored launched an attack at the three, "That's it! I'll eat you all!"

Ichigo, Kon, and Shigeru attacked it's mask in unison.

"Shut up!"

Between the mask crushing kicking force of the Mod-Soul and the slashes from the two zanpakuto, it didn't stand a chance.

As the monster flew back, Kon rushed forward kicking it up into the air, but all the momentum caused the menace to fall over the balcony. Ichigo and Shigeru rushed forward pulling him back to the roof.

"You idiot," Ichigo yelled.

Shigeru grunted, "Ichigo, why're you so heavy?!"

Ichigo went on to lecture the Mod, while Kon went on about how he didn't wish to kill, his past, and his idealisms.

Shigeru was examining her nails flicking the dirt from underneath them.

"My, my…," a low voice announced.

Shigeru almost jumped out of her skin as none other than Kisuke Urahara slowly walked over to them.

He stared down the Mod-Soul, "We finally find you, and you're all roughed up…"

He raised his cane, slamming it through Ichigo's forehead. A little pill clattered to the ground along with Ichigo's soulless body. Shigeru looked back to see Tessai, Ginta, and Ururu with all their weapons in toe. Kisuke snatched the green pill off of the ground.

"Well, mission accomplished. Let's go home," he beamed.

Ichigo ran toward the shopkeeper before he could step away, "Wait!"

Kisuke glanced down at the teen, "Mmm?"

"What are you going to do with him," Ichigo asked standing in front of the green clad man.

Kisuke looked Ichigo over with boredom before he glanced over to Shigeru who froze. His stare calculating yet curious.

He glanced back at the orange haired teen again, "What do you mean? We're going to dispose of him."

"You can see me? Who are you," Ichigo eyes widened.

Shigeru rolled her eyes, "He can obviously see both, idiot. Do you see anyone else up here?"

Kisuke grabbed the top of his hat a smirk ghosting his lips at Shigeru's response, "Hmm how should I answer that?"

Rukia snatched Kon out of Kisuke's hand, "Hand it over you greedy salesman!"

"Ms. Kuchiki! Give that back," he whined.

Rukia gently tossed the Mod-Soul up and down, "Oh relax, Urahara! Plus, I wasn't aware that your store took back items without compensating the customer."

The man frowned, "Then I'll give you a refund…"

Shigeru giggled. She couldn't tell if the man was just lazy or acting nonchalant most of the time. He was always just so hard to describe, but she knew he could be terrifying. He's not a former Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads for no reason.

"No, I'm satisfied with my product," Rukia smiled and before Kisuke could complain she cut him off, "Plus, we both know your group is working illegally. Recovering him is out of your jurisdiction."

Kisuke grimly said, "I hope you know what you're doing, Ms. Kuchiki. If trouble comes, we'll play dumb."

"I'm used to trouble lately," Rukia sighed.

Shigeru leaned on Ichigo's shoulder and sighed, "Now that this is done can we go. I'm pretty sure my body is still in the school infirmary. What if they figure out that it's kinda...dead?"

"Oh crap! That's right we need to get there before they lock up," Ichigo shouted.

Rukia handed Kon over to Ichigo.

"Thanks for not throwing him away," he said as he stared at the little green candy.

Shigeru sighed, turning from the group, "I'm going to get a head start before I'm sent to a morgue or something!"

She jumped off the roof running through the air toward the school. She could sense that someone's reiatsu was following her. Once she landed on the roof of Karakura High School she sighed deeply. There were only a few students left for club activities and so on. She made her way toward the door but paused before forcing it open.

"Are you going to reveal yourself or just watch from afar like a creep," she called over her shoulder.

A voice chuckled far too close to her ear, "So you can sense me. Interesting!"

"What can I help you with Mr. Urahara," she looked over her shoulder into the man's gray eyes.

The amused smile vanishing from his face, "Answer a question or two."

"Can I at least get my body first," she asked nervously as she resisted the urge to shiver from the man's cold gaze.

His smile returned as he pulled out his white fan, "Why of course!"

Shigeru tried her best to not sweatdrop, but failed, "This man is bipolar…"

Shigeru managed to find the infirmary after finding a school map. She really didn't know how to navigate through the building yet. What, she just transferred! Once in the small infirmary she slipped back into her body, as Kisuke pulled a stool up to her bed side. Opening her eyes, she sat up groaning as she kicked the sheet away from her form. She squinted as she looked for her glasses. Kisuke placed them on her face.

"So…," she said trying to break the ice.

"So?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Who are you?"

"Shigeru Kuroi"

"Where are you from?"

"Originally, the next town over, but I moved here a couple weeks ago."

"How long have you been seeing spirits?"

"Mmmm, I'd say since I was a little kid. Like kindergarten?"

"How long have you been a substitute shinigami, and where's the one that gave you their abilities?"

"I'd say roughly a month. I never got the guys name before he died. He just wished me the best and gave me this glove," she said gloomily as she lifted her gloved hand.

Kisuke rubbed his stubble as he took the information in. He gave the girl a once over. He could tell that she had just as much spiritual energy as the orange haired teen from earlier, maybe even a little more in fact, but has taught herself how to hide it. She could also sense the spiritual pressure of others. Despite having her abilities for roughly the same amount of time as Ichigo, her skills were advancing at a quicker rate. He could tell that despite her honesty it seemed like she was still hiding something. However, from what he could tell she was an unexpected ally. She stared back at him waiting for another question.

"She shows great potential," he mused standing up.

She got to her feet as well, "That's it?"

"Hmm, for now, Little Miss Shigeru," he grinned at the girl.

She groaned, "Please don't call me that."

"Why not? I think it sounds cute," he teased patting the girl on her head.

She blushed slightly before swatting his hand away, "Whatever, I've got places to be. See you around, Mr. Hat-and-Clogs."

She grabbed her blazer and bag before running out of the room. Kisuke walked over to the window watching as the girl ran to the entrance where Rukia and Ichigo were waiting. His eyes shimmered with amusement.

"Be seeing you," he smirked.

As the trio walked toward Ichigo's house, the boy tossed and kicked the stuffed lion Kon was now inhabiting as they walked, but the boy also kept pestering the brown haired girl.

"Now spill! How did you become a substitute shinigami?!"

Shigeru rubbed her throbbing temple, "I've been seeing spirits since I was a kid. My aunt and I were attacked by a group of hollows. The shinigami assigned for the region got mortally wounded, and offered me his abilities. One soul stab later, boom, substitute shinigami. That about sums it up."

"How'd you know about what Kon really was," Rukia interjected.

Shigeru paused, "That...I can't explain. The words just appeared in my head."

"What like a psychic," Ichigo frowned.

Shigeru laughed, "Sure let's go with that! How much longer to your house? I'm starving!"

"Just around the corner," Ichigo said as he kicked Kon to the corner.

Shigeru tried not to laugh at the plushie's suffering, but he had it coming. Rukia stared at Shigeru from the corner of her eye. She could tell she knew way more than she was letting on, but seeing as she was a pretty nice person, and she did help get Ichigo's body back, she couldn't be that bad. Rukia decided she was going to talk to Urahara about a few things after all.

"I just remembered that there's something I need to do. I'll be back later," Rukia announced before running off.

Ichigo and Shigeru blinked at the trail of dust the smaller girl left.

Just outside the front door to Ichigo's house, he stopped her, "I just want to warn you...my family can be a little much."

"I'm sure they aren't that bad," she smiled, "My original family were so comical we deserved a damn reality show!"

Ichigo sighed as he unlocked the door. His dad suddenly flew through the door a kick aimed at the boy's face. Ichigo dodged before punching his dad in the nose pinning the man to the floor with his fist.

"What the hell, old man," he shouted.

Isshin mumbled through his son's fist, "Ichigo, my son! How was your day?"

"Why can't you ask that without trying to kick in my face in," the boy yelled as he removed his fist from his father's now caved in face.

Shigeru cackled, "I stand corrected! Your family is hilarious!"

At the sound of her voice, Isshin popped back to his feet. He pushed Ichigo face first into a wall before gently grabbing Shigeru's hands.

"Why didn't tell us you were bringing over such a beautiful girl," Isshin shouted at the boy then faced her, "I think you're too good for my useless son, but I'd be honored if you became my new daughter."

Shigeru laughed heartily as Karin appeared out of nowhere kicking her dad into the space next to Ichigo.

"Dad, you can't just say stuff like that," the younger Kurosaki yelled.

Yuzu appeared around the corner, "What's all the ruckus about?"

Shigeru waved to the small girl, "Hi there!"

"Dad, being an idiot again!"

"Please become my daughter-in-law!"

"She's not interested, old man!"

"Shigeru, would you like to stay for dinner?"

Shigeru watched the Kurosaki's with amused awe. They were so energetic and eccentric. She loved it, compared to the empty apartment waiting for her. A warm smile spread across her face as she turned to Yuzu.

"I'd love to!"

Authors note: This might be the longest chapter I write for the whole series haha. Until some major battles stop to happen. I hope guys enjoyed and look forward to seeing how Shigeru influences the Bleach-verse with her knowledge and overall existence!